T20 may be a batsman’s game but given the conditions, fast bowlers may play a crucial role in this World Cup. South Africa, for one, are already fancying their chances
SYDNEY: Indications are this T20 World Cup may belong to the pacemen. The early summer conditions are a large unknown when it comes to T20s in this part of the world, since not too many games are held at this time of the year. Factor in some record rainfall and the traditionally fast and bouncy pitches, especially in venues like the MCG and Perth, and suddenly India’s upcoming South Africa game on Sunday assumes immense significance for pacers on both sides.
South Africa trained at the Sydney Cricket Ground here on Wednesday as India opted to rest a day ahead of their unavoidable affair against the Netherlands. The presence of South Africa and Bangladesh here ahead of Thursday’s double header meant India had been scheduled to train at a venue far away in Black Town, more than 40 kilometres off Sydney.
Although the practice venues are decided much in advance, India too had made an early decision, before Tuesday, to rest on match eve. That meant some of South Africa’s formidable pack of pacemen went full tilt at the SCG nets before Lungi Ngidi sounded an early warning.
“100 per cent,” he said when asked if South Africa have the best quick bowling attack among all the teams in the World Cup. “You want to showcase what you have. It makes for a good show when we get out there. We will play to our strengths.”
Pacers have taken 65.70% of the wickets to fall in this World Cup so far, and Ngidi said, “From the games that we’ve watched, pace has been the most successful throughout this tournament.”
The juice in the MCG surface had been a bit of a surprise to both India and Pakistan, even though one expects pace and bounce there. Rohit Sharma spoke about the carry and early movement, saying, “For a while it felt like a Test match.” Will Test-match lengths be de rigueur in this tournament?” You could call it Test-match mode, but I think it’s just about keeping it simple. There’s pace and bounce in Australia. We were all aware of that before we came here. We’ve seen it even more now in the first few games. So yes, Test-match mode in terms of keeping it simple and just being patient,” said Ngidi.
India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey feels the conditions will be “challenging”. “From the batting perspective (at the MCG), we expected it to do a little bit, but didn’t really expect it to do as much (as it did). The Powerplay is going to be challenging from the bowlers’ perspective. That gives (us) an opportunity to get back in the game, take wickets. You’ve got to be able to use the conditions. Different wickets will pose different challenges and you have to be able to adapt the length, line according to conditions.”
Perth, where India play South Africa, has a formidable reputation for being pace friendly. The match is not at the WACA but at the Perth Stadium, another large ground with steep bounce and sharp carry. Things can work in the batsman’s favour too if he likes the ball coming on to the bat.
Mhambrey provided keen insight on how, in spite of the conditions, things were not all rosy for the pacers. “The end overs have been a challenge, not only for us but for other teams. We’ve prepared for it. We’ve identified bowlers who will be death-over specialists. But in this format, you have to be adaptable. As we go into the tournament, there will be a lot of wear and tear (on the pitches). When we feel having an additional spinner will help, we will go for it.”
SYDNEY: Indications are this T20 World Cup may belong to the pacemen. The early summer conditions are a large unknown when it comes to T20s in this part of the world, since not too many games are held at this time of the year. Factor in some record rainfall and the traditionally fast and bouncy pitches, especially in venues like the MCG and Perth, and suddenly India’s upcoming South Africa game on Sunday assumes immense significance for pacers on both sides.
South Africa trained at the Sydney Cricket Ground here on Wednesday as India opted to rest a day ahead of their unavoidable affair against the Netherlands. The presence of South Africa and Bangladesh here ahead of Thursday’s double header meant India had been scheduled to train at a venue far away in Black Town, more than 40 kilometres off Sydney.
Although the practice venues are decided much in advance, India too had made an early decision, before Tuesday, to rest on match eve. That meant some of South Africa’s formidable pack of pacemen went full tilt at the SCG nets before Lungi Ngidi sounded an early warning.
“100 per cent,” he said when asked if South Africa have the best quick bowling attack among all the teams in the World Cup. “You want to showcase what you have. It makes for a good show when we get out there. We will play to our strengths.”
Pacers have taken 65.70% of the wickets to fall in this World Cup so far, and Ngidi said, “From the games that we’ve watched, pace has been the most successful throughout this tournament.”
The juice in the MCG surface had been a bit of a surprise to both India and Pakistan, even though one expects pace and bounce there. Rohit Sharma spoke about the carry and early movement, saying, “For a while it felt like a Test match.” Will Test-match lengths be de rigueur in this tournament?” You could call it Test-match mode, but I think it’s just about keeping it simple. There’s pace and bounce in Australia. We were all aware of that before we came here. We’ve seen it even more now in the first few games. So yes, Test-match mode in terms of keeping it simple and just being patient,” said Ngidi.
India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey feels the conditions will be “challenging”. “From the batting perspective (at the MCG), we expected it to do a little bit, but didn’t really expect it to do as much (as it did). The Powerplay is going to be challenging from the bowlers’ perspective. That gives (us) an opportunity to get back in the game, take wickets. You’ve got to be able to use the conditions. Different wickets will pose different challenges and you have to be able to adapt the length, line according to conditions.”
Perth, where India play South Africa, has a formidable reputation for being pace friendly. The match is not at the WACA but at the Perth Stadium, another large ground with steep bounce and sharp carry. Things can work in the batsman’s favour too if he likes the ball coming on to the bat.
Mhambrey provided keen insight on how, in spite of the conditions, things were not all rosy for the pacers. “The end overs have been a challenge, not only for us but for other teams. We’ve prepared for it. We’ve identified bowlers who will be death-over specialists. But in this format, you have to be adaptable. As we go into the tournament, there will be a lot of wear and tear (on the pitches). When we feel having an additional spinner will help, we will go for it.”
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsUpdate is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
